Amazon announces 26 new utility-scale wind, solar energy projects

11 Dec 2020

Amazon recently announced 26 new utility-scale wind and solar energy projects that total 3.4 gigawatts (gw) of electricity production capacity. This brings the company's total investment in renewable energy in 2020 to 35 projects and more than 4gw of capacity.

Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash

Amazon has now invested in 6.5gw of wind and solar projects that will enable the company to supply its operations with more than 18 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually. This is enough to power 1.7 million US homes for one year. These projects will supply renewable energy for Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfilment centres, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centres.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, says: “They will also help advance Amazon’s goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions across its business by 2040. Part of that commitment is powering Amazon’s infrastructure with 100% renewable energy, and the company is now on a path to achieve this milestone by 2025, five years ahead of the initial 2030 target.”

The 26 new wind and solar projects are located in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, and the US. The new projects are Amazon’s first in France, Germany, Italy, and South Africa.

In the US, Amazon has now enabled wind and solar projects in California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. Amazon has a total of 127 renewable energy projects globally, including 59 utility-scale wind and solar renewable energy projects and 68 solar rooftops on fulfilment centres and sort centres around the globe.

The Climate Pledge

Miranda Ballentine, CEO of Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (Reba), says: “Private sector investment is essential to scaling renewable energy at the pace necessary to drive global climate action.”

Last year, Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040. The pledge now has 31 signatories, including Unilever, Verizon, Siemens, Microsoft, and Best Buy.

To reach its goal, Amazon will continue to reduce emissions across its operations by establishing a path to power its operations with 100% renewable energy, five years ahead of the company’s initial target of 2030; delivering its Shipment Zero vision to make all shipments net-zero carbon, with 50% net-zero carbon by 2030; and purchasing 100,000 electric delivery vehicles, the largest order ever of electric delivery vehicles.